Tag: MassDCR

MBTA Draw One Bridge Replacement Project NEPA Draft Environmental Assessment Comment Letter

MBTA Draw One Bridge Replacement Project NEPA Draft Environmental Assessment Comment Letter

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January 6, 2025
Re: MBTA Draw One Bridge Replacement Project NEPA Draft Environmental Assessment 
Sent via email: drawone@mbta.com

Dear project team,

My name is Brendan Kearney, and I’m co-executive director of WalkMassachusetts, a statewide pedestrian advocacy organization previously known as WalkBoston. We have followed the slow progression and implementation of the New Charles River Basin Master Plan for decades. The North Station Draw 1 Bridge Replacement project is an important component to the multimodal network of the Boston region, and we want to ensure this location includes the proposed pedestrian and bicycle connection.

The drawbridge crosses over the Charles River directly behind North Station. It currently has two moveable spans with four tracks. Existing piers are supporting the spans already in place. The new drawbridge will have three moveable spans with additional tracks. We are concerned that the current draft of the design for the bridge does not include a pedestrian path, the 2nd of three important pedestrian connections within the Master Plan. This crucial pedestrian and bicycle connection was a commitment by the Commonwealth as part of the Central Artery project mitigation. It should be restored to the project and built on the same timeline as the rail crossing. 

If that is deemed unachievable at this time, please commit to advancing the design and construction plans as well as a funding plan for this important pedestrian/bike connection during the 8-year construction timeline for what is now solely a train drawbridge. 

WalkMassachusetts would like to remind the MBTA, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and MassDOT that the North Bank bridge which connects Cambridge and Charlestown and passes underneath the Zakim Bridge was also dropped at one point roughly 20 years ago. At the time, officials were sympathetic, but said the holdup was simply due to lack of funding. As we now know, that bridge is a heavily used, beautiful and well-loved part of the Charles River Reservation.

We should not make the mistake of leaving out the connection between the North Point Park and North Station which will also become a heavily used, and well-loved part of MassDCR’s Charles River Reservation.

Thank you,

Brendan Kearney
Co-Executive Director, WalkMassachusetts

North Station Drawbridge Replacement / Draw One Project Comment Letter

North Station Drawbridge Replacement / Draw One Project Comment Letter

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June 14, 2024
Re: North Station Drawbridge Replacement / Draw One Project
Sent via email: drawone@mbta.com
Dear project team,

My name is Brendan Kearney, and I’m co-executive director of WalkMassachusetts, a statewide pedestrian advocacy organization previously known as WalkBoston. We have followed the slow progression and implementation of the New Charles River Basin Master Plan for decades. I’m commenting on the removal of the pedestrian river crossing as part of the North Station Draw 1 Bridge Replacement.

The drawbridge crosses over the Charles River directly behind North Station. It currently has two moveable spans with four tracks. Existing piers are supporting the spans already in place. The new drawbridge will have three moveable spans with additional tracks. We are concerned that the current draft of the design for the bridge does not include a pedestrian path, the 2nd of three important pedestrian connections within the Master Plan. This crucial pedestrian and bicycle connection was a commitment by the Commonwealth as part of the Central Artery project mitigation. It should be restored to the project and built on the same timeline as the rail crossing. 

WalkMassachusetts would like to remind the MBTA, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and MassDOT that the North Bank bridge which connects Cambridge and Charlestown and passes underneath the Zakim Bridge was also dropped at one point roughly 20 years ago – at the time, officials were sympathetic, but said the holdup was simply due to lack of funding. As we now know, that bridge is a heavily used, beautiful and well-loved part of the Charles River Reservation.
We should not make the mistake of leaving out the connection between the North Point Park and North Station which will also become a heavily used, and well-loved part of the Charles River Reservation.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Brendan Kearney
Co-Executive Director, WalkMassachusetts

WalkBoston Comments on Memorial Drive Phase III – 25% Design

WalkBoston Comments on Memorial Drive Phase III – 25% Design

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July 21, 2022

Commissioner Doug Rice
Department of Conservation and Recreation
251 Causeway Street
Boston, MA 02114
 Attn: Jeff Parenti, Deputy Chief Engineer; Dan Driscoll, Director of Green Transportation

RE: Memorial Drive Phase III – 25% Design  

Dear Commissioner Rice:

WalkBoston is Massachusetts’ primary pedestrian advocacy organization, working across the Commonwealth to make it safer and easier for people to walk for all activities of daily living such as access to transit, school and jobs. We are writing with comments about the 25% design for the 0.8-mile section of Memorial Drive from Eliot Bridge east to the intersection of Memorial Drive and John F. Kennedy Street near Harvard Square. We are happy to see this project continuing to move forward.

We are very pleased that DCR is committed to implementing a road diet for this portion of Memorial Drive and to several key elements of the project including:

  • Paying close attention to providing a walking path that is separated from the paved shared use path. Converting the existing 6.5-foot-wide path to a 10-foot shared use path paired with a 5-foot wide stabilized gravel path for people walking and running will help reduce conflicts. 
  • Adding mid-block crossings in two locations (although further attention is needed to make these crossings safe under the current roadway design, such as adding speed tables and mini bump-outs).
  • Taking special care of the Plane trees and carefully designing refurbished planting and landscaping of the Reservation. 

Our comments and concerns are centered on the design speed that underlies the specific roadway design and thus will not yield the very significant safety benefits that slower speeds would make possible. There is definitive evidence that in order to slow traffic, roads must be designed with that purpose. We strongly urge DCR to work internally and with the City of Cambridge to revise the design speed of 35 mph and to reduce that speed to 25 mph. The nearby and heavily traveled Alewife Brook Parkway is posted for 25 mph, as are many other DCR parkways. 

DCR should be designing a road for what is needed, and not repeating roadway designs of the past that allow people to drive fast, especially at off peak times. MassDOT Safe Speeds Guidance specifically addresses this issue, and certainly DCR as a parks and recreation agency, should be leading the way for slower speeds and safer conditions for people walking and biking.

Memorial Drive should be posted and designed for 25 mph.

The slower design speed would reflect the roadway’s setting within a park, would  match the speed limit of Cambridge, and would significantly enhance the safety of the tens of thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists who are drawn to the Reservation and its pathways. In addition to the direct safety benefits of a reduced design speed (and thus reduced actual driving speed) additional benefits of a lower design speed include:

Allowing the reduction of the pavement width from 26’ – comprising two ten-foot lanes and two three-foot shoulders. Narrowing the shoulders to 12-18” would provide a number of important benefits:

  • Adding more park space and creating more distance between the roadway and the allee of Plane trees
  • Reducing impervious surface and runoff from the roadway, which would improve the health of the Reservations’s trees and other plants
  • Shortening crossing distances for pedestrians, thus possibly limiting the need for substantial traffic calming at the mid-block crossings

We also request that DCR remove the right turn slip lane to Hawthorn Street that seems unnecessary from an operating standpoint, would increase the speed of right-turning vehicles and this section of roadway adds unnecessary paving within the Reservation.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the 25% design, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this important and exciting project. 

Stacey Beuttell, AICP

Executive Director, WalkBoston

Comments on Memorial Drive Phase III

Comments on Memorial Drive Phase III

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January 27, 2022

Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Attn: MEPA Office, Christina Lyons

RE: Memorial Drive Phase III – Environmental Notification Form 16495

Dear Secretary Theoharides:

WalkBoston is Massachusetts’ primary pedestrian advocacy organization, working across the Commonwealth to make it safer and easier for people to walk for all activities of daily living such as access to transit, school and jobs. We are writing to you to show support for the MassDCR road diet of the 0.8-mile section of Memorial Drive from Eliot Bridge east to the intersection of Memorial Drive and John F. Kennedy Street near Harvard Square. We are happy to see this project move forward since it was last discussed publicly in the Summer of 2019.

We appreciate that there is continued attention to separating users by mode whenever possible on MassDCR facilities and within the Charles River Basin, following the recommendations from the 2002 Charles River Basin Plan. Converting the existing 6.5-foot-wide path to a 10-foot shared use path paired with a 5-foot wide stabilized gravel path for people walking and running will help reduce conflicts. 

We also applaud you for the addition of mid-block crossings into the project area, an opportunity unlocked by the road diet’s narrower cross-section. There is a new mid-block pedestrian crossing proposed on Memorial Drive near Sparks Street and Mt. Auburn, which provides a direct link to the MBTA Bus Stop for Bus 71 and 73 to further enhance accessibility to this important park and transportation corridor for transit riders. An additional mid-block crossing is also proposed at Memorial Drive near University Road, closer to JFK. Both pedestrian crossings will include rapid flashing beacon lights (RRFBs) to alert drivers to crossing pedestrians. 

With a projected increase in biking and e-bike usage in the coming years, we encourage you to highlight any possible conflict zones between people walking and biking with paint or signage to help minimize these conflicts, particularly at the new mid-block crossings. 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. 

Stacey Beuttell, AICP

Executive Director, WalkBoston

Comments on Re-Imagining Massachusetts’ Post-Pandemic Transportation System

Comments on Re-Imagining Massachusetts’ Post-Pandemic Transportation System

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Comments to Senate Committee on Re-Imagining Massachusetts Post-Pandemic Resiliency

Dear Senator Hinds and Committee Members:

WalkBoston is Massachusetts’ primary pedestrian advocacy organization, working across the Commonwealth to make it safer and easier for people to walk for all activities of daily living such as access to transit, school and jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic gave stark evidence that walkable neighborhoods and communities are critical to physical and mental health, to reducing isolation and to the resilience of all Massachusetts residents and their neighborhoods.

In light of the pandemic, we have learned that key components of the transportation system to support walking should include:

  • Speed management. We need measures to control, and often reduce, speeds on Commonwealth roadways so that they are safe for all roadway users. During the initial months of the pandemic, there was dangerous speeding on roadways across Massachusetts. MassDOT’s ongoing initiative to create tools and measures to set and manage safe speeds on all MassDOT roadways (other than limited access highways) needs the support and encouragement of the legislature to ensure its success, and then to bring those same measures to municipal roads as well.
  • Safe connections to transit. As we learned during the pandemic, essential workers are more dependent on transit than many others. We need fully accessible transit and bus stops throughout Massachusetts, including safe street crossings and sidewalk connections to adjacent neighborhoods. These are crucial to a transit system that works for everyone.
  • More local funding to repurpose public space. The overwhelmingly popular MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces program that was introduced in response to the pandemic has demonstrated that municipalities are interested and ready to rethink how they use their streets to enable more and safer outdoor recreation,
    commerce, community activities, and mobility.
  • Chapter 90 and Complete Streets. Chapter 90 funds have been traditionally used to build and maintain municipal roads without requirements that sidewalks and crosswalks be included. We suggest that the Committee review this standard and consider including Complete Streets measures within Chapter 90, similar to those requirements set by the legislature for MassDOT roadways.
  • DCR Parkways. DCR’s recently released (and long delayed) Parkway Master Plan clearly demonstrates that immediate action is needed to vastly improve safety for people bicycling and walking. Parkways are cultural and historic landmarks and should remain fully integrated components of parks and open spaces, used and enjoyed by people for walking, rolling, and riding as originally intended. With a commitment to accelerated improvement in partnership with MassDOT, parkways should remain under DCR’s purview. We urge the legislature to set funding and regulatory standards for DCR as follows:
    • Adopt MassDOT’s Complete Streets guidelines as their default design standard for all parkways;
    • Utilize MassDOT crash portal data to implement quick-build improvements on the most dangerous parkway roads and intersections within the next 12 months;
    • Align its parkway speed limits with local speed limits, especially in municipalities where the default speed has been reduced to 25 miles/hour or less;
    • Provide DCR with the budget needed to complete the recommendations in the DCR Parkway Master Plan;
    • Require DCR to set measurable goals to reduce the number of serious and fatal crashes on DCR roadways and report publicly and annually on progress toward these goals; and
    • Require DCR to add analysis and recommendations for several key parkways currently missing from the plan.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Stacey Beuttell
Executive Director, WalkBoston
405 Waltham Street, Suite 309
Lexington, MA 02421
617-367-9255